FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 23 Years to Life for Fatally Shooting Man
Following Argument in East Flatbush Bodega

Defendant Shot at Victim Eight Times in Broad Daylight

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 31-year-old Flatbush man has been sentenced to 23 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a 42-year-old East Flatbush man following a dispute inside a bodega. The defendant fired eight times, striking the victim once in the back.

Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant fired off a barrage of bullets in broad daylight and only by sheer luck no one else was injured on that busy street. He has now been held accountable for senselessly taking a man’s life.”

The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Herman Lancaster, 31, of Flatbush, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to 23 years to life in prison following his conviction last month on one count of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon after a non-jury trial.

The Acting District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on January 27, 2015, at approximately 2:40 p.m., the defendant shot and killed Kerwin Craigwell, 42, outside of the Adrian Deli & Grocery, located at 2073 Nostrand Avenue in East Flatbush, following a dispute. The shooting started inside the store and the unarmed victim was struck on the sidewalk after slipping on snow, the evidence showed. The defendant was apprehended minutes after the incident during a canvass of the area and identified by an eyewitness.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Lewis E. Lieberman, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Joy Kieras, of the District Attorney’s Trial Bureau, Gray Zone, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Taub, Homicide Chief.